1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to electronics, and, in particular, to leakage current reduction in integrated circuits (ICs).
2. Description of the Related Technology
Static power dissipation of an integrated circuit (IC) can be a relatively large component of the IC's overall power dissipation. For example, in certain memory ICs, static power dissipation can represent up to, for instance, 70% of the power dissipated by the IC. Additionally, as transistor dimensions become smaller with processing advancements, the density of transistors can increase and an IC's static power dissipation can increase relative to the IC's dynamic power dissipation. A relatively large amount of an IC's static power dissipation can be associated with leakage current of transistors.
Certain circuit design techniques can be used to reduce leakage current, and thus static power dissipation. For example, a circuit can use transistors having longer channel lengths and/or higher threshold voltages to reduce leakage current. However, such techniques may have a significant impact on circuit delay and/or area, or alone may provide an insufficient reduction in static power dissipation.
To avoid repetition of description, components having the same or similar function may be referenced by the same reference number.